JOE GUNN

The East Block of the Parliament Buildings has a special charm. Here you'll find high ceilings, stained glass windows, larger offices and much less of that harried buzz evident in the frenzied offices of MPs located in the other buildings on the Hill. more . . .

LISA PETSCHE

Ah, Christmas in the country. For city dwellers, the notion holds a special charm. Wistful songs have even been written about it. Our family gets a little taste of it when we travel to a 180-acre farm to harvest our own Christmas tree.

Tony Blair and Christopher Hitchens duked it out to a draw in the biggest public debate on religion ever held in Toronto Nov. 26.

At the start of the evening, 22 per cent of the sold-out crowd at Roy Thomson Hall were in favour of Blair’s proposition that religion is a force for good in the world. Fifty-seven per cent thought religion was a force for ill and 21 per cent were undecided. more . . .

CALGARY — St. Mary's University College has selected a leading Catholic educator from Australia to serve as its next president.

But Dr. Gerry Turcotte is no stranger to Canada. Originally from Montreal, Turcotte, 50, has degrees from McGill and the University of Ottawa. He went to Australia to do a doctorate in English literature and ended up staying. more . . .

In the middle of Pope Benedict’s new book is a story about a hat, and it sheds light on the trials and tribulations of the modern papacy.

The book’s interviewer, German journalist Peter Seewald, recalled a public appearance one winter day when the pope donned the “camauro,” a red velvet cap trimmed with ermine that was last worn by Pope John XXIII. Seewald suggested this was one of those subtle signals that marked a return to the old ways of the Church. more . . .

Edmonton has a special relationship with the Holodomor. It was the first major urban centre in the world to have a monument to the victims of the 1932-33 famine. That unveiling took place on the 50th anniversary of the famine in 1983.

On the 75th anniversary in 2008, members of the Alberta legislature passed Bill 37 to declare a day of remembrance for the victims of the 1932-33 famine in Ukraine. The fourth Saturday in November was thus proclaimed as Ukrainian Famine and Genocide (Holodomor) Memorial Day. more . . .